If you are looking to give online dating a try, it can seem like there are a million online dating sites. But what if you want to find a site geared towards finding a geek or gamer? Below I’ve put together a list of 5 sites that offer geek and/or gamer targeting. All of the sites on the list are free to use and most seem to have a decent number of members.

GamerDating

If you are a gamer looking for a gamer, then GamerDating might be the right choice for you. The site is still in beta but it appears to be fully functional. Looking at their user map, the heaviest concentration of users is in Europe. GamerDating offers a blog, forum and people search. A basic search for women seeking men ages 18-75 returned 41 results. The site lists about 2,000 total members.

Cupidtino

Cupidtino appears to be the perfect dating site for Apple fanboys and fangirls. Cupidtino describes their service as, “…the first ever “Mac-inspired” dating site. It’s goal is to bring Apple fans and lovers of beautiful hardware and software design together.” You must be on an Apple device to use the site (I wasn’t allowed in on my PC) and when you sign up, you tell the service what type of Apple device you are looking for. For example, I am looking for a woman, 30-35 years old, who owns an iPad 2 with Smart Cover and once owned an Apple IIe. The service appears to be free and membership including posting photos of yourself, answering profile questions and engaging in the community.

So if you are looking for someone like a MG Siegler*, Justine Ezarik* or John Gruber*, then Cupidtino should be your first stop. (* they are the biggest Apple fans I know, I do not know if they are currently in the market)

Sweet On Geeks

I first wrote about Sweet on Geeks back in 2008 and it looks like the website design hasn’t changed much since then. Sweet on Geeks notes that they value, “the fierce independence and non-conformity of the geek and nerd spirit. We have created a space that transcends the ordinary social network or online matchmaking site. Our geek profiles are not a flat, text based blueprint of boredom but rather a Web 2.0 enabled wonderland of personal freedom.” Their banner suggests that if you are into Larping, this is the dating site for you.

Geek-wise the site uses Drupal and the service offers a forum, groups, events and a blog. In my general searches (female seeking male, any age, any location), most of the results had a “last accessed date” in 2010. There does appear to be current activity on the site based on their latest updates widget.

Datecraft

Another gamer looking for gamer dating site, Datecraft describes their service as, “Datecraft is a seriously-funny (and funnily-serious) way for those that call themselves “gamer” to meet others that share the very same interest.” Datecraft offers gamers profiles, blog, chat, pictures, videos and like IntellectConnect below, Datecraft offers a hot-or-not voting function. A basic search for women looking for men seemed to return the largest list of profiles.

IntellectConnect

IntellectConnect describes their service as, “Are you a bookworm? Do you love museums? Maybe you’re seeking intelligent conversation. Whether you’re looking for a smart soul mate or friends who share common interests, our service will help you find them.” The service is free and offers a people search and a hot-or-not voting option. To complete a people search, you must register with the site. It appears that they have a good mix of both men and women.

Find more stories about: dating, games, online dating

This is no April Fool’s joke – this is damn serious. To celebrate the launch of the Amazon Android Appstore, Amazon is offering one application for free each day. Earlier this week Amazon offered the SwiftKey Keyboard for free — now it’s back to $1.79.

Today Amazon is offering the popular game Fruit Ninja for free. The Fruit Ninja team of ninjas note that they have sold over six million copies of the game worldwide. The game creators describe the game as, “a juicy action game enjoyed by millions of players around the world with squishy, splatty and satisfying fruit carnage! Become the ultimate bringer of sweet, tasty destruction with every slash.”

Amazon is also offering Angry Birds Rio for free — this appears to be a longer running deal but if you want the game, I’d suggest downloading soon because there is no specific end date listed. The game is basically the same as the Crush the Castle except instead of chucking rocks and bombs you chuck birds. The free game is ad-free and contains all 60 levels.

To get the free games, you need to install the Amazon Android Appstore onto your Android device. Here’s an overview of how to install the Appstore.

You can download both Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds Rio from the Amazon Android Appstore homepage or from within the Appstore after you load it onto your Android device.

If you are on an iPhone, sorry this deal isn’t for you. You can purchase both games from the iTunes App Store for $0.99 each.

Find more stories about: Amazon, Android, casual games, games, mobile

Little known fact about me…I once won a Ms. Pac-Man competition in New Jersey as a young child. I love the Pac-Man franchise and hope to have the money one day to buy the arcade versions of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man. My favorite is Ms. Pac Man – mainly because of the variety of boards and how lovely Ms. Pac-Man is.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, Google has created the first interactive “doodle” of their logo. You need to use “a modern” browser like Firefox or Chrome to play. Simply visit Google, click “insert coin” and get your chompin’ on.

If Twitter created this version of Pac-Man, they would give some players extra power pellets and a “multiplier” option which would clone Pac-Man – because it’s important who gets on the leaderboard.

You can also grab Pac-Man games for iGoogle and the iPhone.

Get your Wakka Wakka on! Come back and post your high scores!

Find more stories about: games, Google, pac-man

A couple of years ago we reported on the launch of Pac-man for iGoogle. Today we’ve learned that Pac-man is now available for the iPod Touch and the iPhone. I wonder what the gameplay is like seeing as you have to hit tiny buttons on the iPhone screen. The game costs $5.99.

Want to feel old? Read this line from Jonathan Kromrey, general manager for Apple Games for Namco Networks, “With tricks and traps, special items and battles against giant ghost-bosses, this isn’t your parents’ PAC-MAN.” Luckily the “old” version of Pac-Man is also available.

Without looking, can you name the orange ghost?

Pacman is great, but where is that hottie Ms. Pac-man? Useless bit of info: I won a Ms. Pac-man tourney in Atlantic City when I was a wee little kid.

Find more stories about: games, iphone, iPod, mobile, pacman

At the end of 2007 pizza company Papa John’s announced the ability to order a pizza via a mobile device. Today they are announcing a new game which they call an “augmented reality game feature”. The game is part of what looks like a bigger online campaign called Papa John’s Road Trip.

You take your pizza box, turn it upside down, cut out the Camaro car picture, hold it up to your webcam and then play the game using the car picture. You drive around the U.S. and they sprinkle pizza ads in the game.

Seems like a lot of work especially because you may have a piece of the pizza left and won’t want to cut open the box to get to the special decoder image. You can also printout a game piece from the website.

I like the concept but think it would be more usable if they stuck the game piece to the box rather than having to cutup some cardboard and carry around a greasy, pepper smelling box. In the video below, the woman actually seems to carry the entire pizza box upside down to her office – HA! The other questions for the agency who got the check to create this game are:

• does a person who just finished a pizza want offers for more pizza?
• to keep playing day after day as they suggest in the video, you would need to keep the pizza box around – that can’t be a good thing

It’s all about intent with promotions and since the transaction has already completed, I’d rather see PJ push to an email signup and keep the game clean. Or at a minimum they should know if the person has played the game for the first time provide no offers and on multiple return trips, then provide offers. They should also be able to tell whether a person is playing via the computer printout or the pizza box.

Here’s a video of how the game works…

Find more stories about: casual games, games, Virtual Worlds

Mobile phone, gaming device and music player cover replacement service Coveroo has announced the addition of basketball teams and superheroes to their lineup today. Coveroo has partnered with Marvel Entertainment and the initial superhero lineup includes characters such as Captain America, Spiderman, The Hulk, Thor, and Wolverine.

Coveroo has also partnered with the NBA to offer “covers” of NBA teams (e.g. Knicks) or famous players (e.g Patrick Ewing). If anyone purchases Jordan dunking over Patrick, ye shall get it when I see you!

Apparently they use frickin lasers to etch the design onto the cover in full color so it doesn’t rub off like a Bazooka tattoo.

Pricing runs from $10-$60 for the replacement cover. I assume these covers appeal to kids and young adults – not sure anyone in business would slap on a Brenda Walsh cover on their phone. Although for $50 you can send in your own design – now that CN logo might look quite hot on my Samsung Ace!

Coveroo should create an auto-delivery program where every three months a new Coveroo cover is sent to the customer. 

Find more stories about: games, mobile

AOL has announced the launch of their latest online content site today. Named PlaySavvy, the goal is to provide a resource for parents to help them figure out the world of console gaming (no online??). PlaySavvy is part of the GameDaily section of AOL’s content network.

Libe Goad, Editor-in-Chief, AOL PlaySavvy said, "Playing video games is one of the top pastimes for children these days, almost more than watching TV. We created AOL PlaySavvy to help parents navigate through all the gaming information out there in order to decide what’s appropriate for their children."

PlaySavvy contains content in the following categories: gaming 101 (all about games), FAQ (apparently with feedback from a parental gaming panel), gaming reviews from a parent’s perspective but with the kids in mind and how-to articles including how to talk to your kids about gaming.

The login functionality uses AOL ids and some of the content is provided by third-parties. While I can’t imagine this site doing massive pageviews, it could help keep parents inside the AOL content network longer which is a good thing for AOL. 

Find more stories about: AOL, casual games, games, Quick News

The Social Gaming Network (SGN) has announced the exciting launch of the iBasketball game today. Today’s iBasketball release follows SGN’s iGolf release. iBasketball uses the iPhone accelerometer to make playing the game fun. You can pick from "Around the World" or "HORSE" and you can shoot layups and practice drills.

The game can connect to an online community of other iPhone iBasketball players and as you take turns it updates the app so you know when your friend got a swish or hit a really tough 3-pointer.

I can only imagine what you must look like as you "shoot" your iPhone through the basket and then have to look quickly to see if you made the shot. I could just imagine what Penn Station will look like if there are delays.

The iBasketball app is available on the iTunes app store. I am looking forward to iPool, iFishing, iPacMan and iFrogger. The iFrogger should be fun as you get down and jump from pad to pad to cross the river.

Find more stories about: casual games, games, gigaomnews, iphone, Quick News

Reflexive has announced that they have been acquired by Amazon. Reflexive is a maker and distributor of casual games and apparently Amazon will help Reflexive reach a new set of customers for their games. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Reflexive CEO Lars Brubaker noted on the acquisition:

As I’m sure you can all imagine this is a very exciting day for us at Reflexive. It means we’ll be able to expand our distribution network to include Amazon’s amazing distribution channel. With Amazon we will bring a huge new group of customers into play.

At Reflexive we have always prided ourselves on maintaining good relationships with everyone in the industry, and are excited that Amazon shares that philosophy. We intend to provide the best distribution platform anywhere, and to continue working openly with all the participants of the casual games space. Together it is our priority to continue this inclusive attitude going forward.

What this means for all you developers is that it’s time to get excited about your future with Reflexive. We can’t talk about everything yet, but we’ll be in touch shortly with more information. All of the features that you know and love about GameCenterSolution will still be available to you now and in the future, and you can continue to submit games through the Reflexive site. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at developersupport@gamecentersolution.com.

I’ve created enough casual games in my career to know that they were hot, are hot and will continue to be hot. They bring together players, developers, aggregators and advertisers into a unique opportunity where everyone benefits. SellMoreGames and Gamezebo have more details on the acquisition.

Find more stories about: acquisitions, Amazon, casual games, games, Quick News

A new semi-mobile game launched last week named Snapherd. The idea behind Snapherd is simple: each day they post a word and you submit photos that match how you view the word. Some of the words to-date include: ashamed, debate, empty, exact, and favorite.

Photos can be submitted via email, MMS upload, or traditional upload from your computer. They are giving out prizes to the highest rated photos. Users can leave comments on photos. What makes this interesting to me is that you can see how others view a word or topic. I could see Snapherd adding groups to allow a circle of friends to explore how their views on a topic differ through photos.

Snapherd was founded by Joshua Gross. You might remember Joshua from our review of his other startup TapeFailure (now called Vistrac). When I spoke with Joshua about Snapherd last month, my suggestion was to partner with brands which could help Snapherd grow quickly and virally along with the real possibility of a business model. I could see brands like Coke, Pepsi, Apple, Microsoft, etc. A perfect example would be the "I’m a PC" campaign that Microsoft is currently running. 

Find more stories about: casual games, games, mobile, photos, Quick News, Reviews, Snapherd, startups

Earlier this month we reviewed mobile scavenger hunt game platform SCVNGR. Today, via Source of Inspiration, I found GPS Mission. Germany-based GPS Mission allows you to create games using the GPS functions on many mobile phones.

Here’s how GPS Mission works: You create a mission for your friends to travel through. Each winner receives "gold" which helps them move up the leaderboard. Here’s an example of a mission from San Francisco named the Nob Hill Gold Rush.

What’s great about both GPS Mission and SCVNGR is that the games are played outside. This falls in line with my article the other day about the airplane mode function on cell phones. While the phones must be on to play the game, players are outside and away from the desk getting exercise, social interaction and sunlight.

Find more stories about: casual games, games, GPS Mission, mobile, Quick News, SCVNGR

Below is our live coverage of the Wednesday morning startup presentations at the Techcrunch50 conference in San Francisco. Keep refreshing this page to view the newest coverage – we will note once the coverage has concluded. And check our main DEMO and TechCrunch50 conference section for our video event coverage as well.

Grockit

– massively multiplayer online learning
– gives points when experts help others
– offers a game lobby to see what other games are active
– get "grockit points" for saying helpful things (yea that won’t be gamed)
– allen: i would stay away from calling this a game

Akoha

– games for everyday people
– games for people who don’t want to be wizard
– wanted the game to have a tie to philanthropy
– wanted to play it in the real world
– based off the idea of pay it forward
– works with some mission cards
– viddler for the video
– apparently you give something plus the card – really no idea
– has a karma map so you can "touch" other members of the community
– i bet this was a great idea in concept but in reality it’s really pretty weak
– aah the cards cost money to get

Atmosphir

– design grid to create video games that you can share
– "if you have built with lego blocks then this is for you"
– canvas of 1 million spaces
– nice looking game development interface
– revenue model is based around virtual gifts
– ok so you make the level and then walk around it – it’s not a game, but more like a simcity
– if they pitch it as a sim and not as a game, it could work well

Playce

– they believe you should be able to send a link to a friend and then play a high end game with high end graphics
– the games are multiplayer with a social graph
– they are making the world a playground
– focus is on the social experience – you can import your friends
– has a text based chat
– the presenter keeps pushing that there’s no download
– there is no download – there is no download – there is absolutely no download
– they don’t create the games themselves, they partner with other game developers
– they offer "game infrasructure as a service"
– i guess it’s like gigya for casual games
– monetization from virtual goods and advertising

post concluded

Find more stories about: Conferences, games, Quick News, TechCrunch50

SCVNGR is one of the companies in the DreamIT startup incubator. SCVNGR describes their service as an "on-demand interactive mobile platform". What this really means is that they help companies and other groups create scavenger hunt games.

The actual game works very similar to any scavenger hunt but with more intelligence. Because everything is sent back via text message to SCVNGR, the system can appropriately send people to the next items and make sure that different groups are doing different things. A variety of commands can be sent via the moble to get tips, hints and current team scoring. The Web application is used to setup the actual scavenger hunt.

To-date the company has generated $25,000 in revenues including over $10,000 from a deal with a Philadelphia jewelry store. SCVNGR is currently targeting the university market segment and is expanding to the museum segment. 

SCVNGR has raised $125k to-date and they are looking for $650,000 for team expansion, technology and sales/business development.

Find more stories about: casual games, DreamIT, games, mobile, Quick News, Reviews, SCVNGR, startups

Usain Bolt bolted his way into the Olympics winning gold medals in the events he competed in. Apparently he’s like the fastest man on earth. And now thanks to Puma (his sponsor), you can attempt to beat him at his own game. Puma has created a casual game that lets you challenge Bolt in a race. You race using your fingers, he races using his feet. I was able to beat him because I am a master of the arrow keys. You see I played Track ‘n Field all the time growing up so I was prepared for this world record holder. Play the game on Puma’s site.

The only thing Puma did wrong is not allowing the game to be embedded outside of the Puma Web site. This would have easily spread the game, Bolt and Puma further than keeping the game locked up on the site will. The game is a smart move for Puma and Bolt. Now that the Olympic Games are over, Bolt will slowly fade out of the spotlight. The game can keep him top-of-mind for casual game players and Puma Shoppers.

This game should see millions of plays a day if it gets the kind of traffic similar games I produced did. It’s a quick play and is addicting to hit the leaderboard. Can you beat my time above? Leave a comment with your best score.

Find more stories about: casual games, games, Olympics, Quick News

To quickly bring everyone up to speed, GameFly is Netflix for video games. Users pay a monthly fee and receive video games in the mail. It’s a great service, I’m a member and I love it, but mailing video games to users is its core business. What happens when users can download video games directly? Can GameFly survive in a video game on demand (VGOD) world?

The shift towards digital downloads in the video game industry is natural. Microsoft announced the first download-only game for the Xbox 360, Marble Blast Ultra, back in October of 2005.

We already see this in music and movies with iTunes and Amazon’s Unbox.

By selling directly to users, video game producers should make more money. They can sell their games for less, because the middle man is cut out. With lower prices, more people would buy games; the total amount of video game sales should increase.

We see this in the music industry. The new Nas album costs $14.99 at Best Buy in CD format. The same album costs $8.99 on Amazon as a digital download. That’s a 40% difference!

If this trend holds for video games, we should see prices drop from $59.99 (on average) to $35.99, a 40% decrease!

Subscriptions, Downloads or Both?

For gamers like me, who pay a monthly fee, buying games, via DVD or download doesn’t make sense. I’m paying a subscription because I want to play a game until I get sick of it. Purchasing video games doesn’t work for me because I usually don’t play them enough. After a week or two, I’m ready for the next game.

If gamers can download games, a subscription service could be created. What would this look like? Could gamers play every game on a system for a monthly fee?

I pay roughly $25 per month for GameFly. I’d gladly pay that amount to Microsoft, if I could access every Xbox 360 game online. Does a plan like this make sense?

If the average gamer spends less per month than the subscription fee, monthly "all you can play" packages will create new revenue. In other words, if the average gamer spends less than $25 per month on games, it would be more profitable if that user had a monthly subscription for $25.

The Changing Game Space

If video games moved to a download-only model, the essential companies would gain, as the middle men are squeezed out. Companies that create consoles (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) would build and manage the "online video game store" for their consoles. These companies would take a cut, much like Apple does with iTunes, when video games or subscriptions are sold. The remaining money would go to the companies that made the video game (EA, Rockstar.) Distributors like Best Buy, would get squeezed out. We see this in the music industry, Best Buy already devotes less floor space to CDs.

What’s also interesting is the ability for advertisers to enter the market. Currently, in-game ads have been a disappointment. If users congregated around an online video game store, ads could be displayed there. The video game industry would make money by selling downloads, subscriptions and ads.

So, Can GameFly Survive?

It just makes sense for users to download video games directly. Why bother going to the store and buying one or waiting for the mail to be delivered?

Unless GameFly drastically changes its model, I think they will be squeezed out too. Currently, they add no value when users can download video games directly. NetFlix, well aware of the changing DVD space, created a streaming service. Even if users can download or rent movies online, NetFlix can compete. GameFly needs to create a big value-added feature in order to survive the changing landscape. I’m not sure what it could be, if users can download directly from their console, I don’t see where NetFlix can deliver games (online or physically).

Even though VGOD makes sense, don’t expect to see it happen soon. Just look at CD sales, they’ve been on the decline for years, but stores still sell them. Also bandwidth may be a problem. Users without broadband access will be left behind. I’m sure they represent a large chunk of money.

We are on the path to video game downloads, but it will take time before every game is available online.

Distributors should pay attention now and think of creative ways to add value, otherwise they will lose out.

Gregory Schnese is a co-founder of SoUrban.net, an East Village blog about music, tech and fashion, and is the Web Producer at beYOU.tv, a fitness and wellness video community.

Find more stories about: Gamefly, games, Gregory Schnese, Quick News